1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to user input devices for computing, transmitting, and/or collecting data, and more particularly, to keypads or keyboards for such devices and methods for operating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices for computing or collecting data are becoming progressively smaller while their functionality is progressively increasing. User input devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), are becoming increasingly more prevalent. As these devices become increasingly smaller, the keypad area available for user input devices correspondingly decreases. To save space, the keys on of many of these devices often serve multiple purposes.
Keys capable of inputting more than one input value typically have more than one legend located on, or near, the key to map the key to the more than one input value associated with the key. For instance, a single key capable of inputting three different input values may have three different legends proximate to the key to inform the user of the various input values that may be input by activation of the key.
It is often difficult to ascertain which of the possible input values represented by the legends is active (i.e., the value that will be entered by selection of the key). Thus, the user often selects a particular key expecting to input a desired value only to find that the set of input values which includes the desired value is not the currently active set of input values. As a result, an incorrect value is entered, which will require further key manipulations by the user to correct. Such errors lead to user inefficiencies and customer dissatisfaction.